IndiGo has introduced service from Delhi to Manchester. Due to avoiding Pakistani airspace, it has become the new longest route for India’s largest operator by both distance and time. Meanwhile, AirAsia X has taken off from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen. It, too, is its new longest link.
Although not the same, the Dominican Republic’s flag carrier, Arajet, has launched what is its new longest US market: Punta Cana to Chicago O’Hare. The first flight took place on November 15, with the carrier joining American, Frontier, and United from O’Hare, while Southwest operates from Midway.
IndiGo Now Has 3 UK Routes With Latest Launch
On November 15, IndiGo left Delhi for Manchester. The market was last served by Air India 25 years ago, in 2000. Despite the lack of nonstop service, booking data shows the local market is of a decent size, with 60,000 round-trip passengers (164 daily) in the 12 months to September 2025. Delhi was Manchester’s fifth-largest unserved European city, after Islamabad, Bangkok, Lahore, and Phuket. Pakistan International finally restarted Islamabad-Manchester flights in October.
IndiGo serves Delhi-Manchester five times a week on the 338-seat Boeing 787-9. As you know, it leases 787-9s from Norse Atlantic, which is increasingly moving away from scheduled flying. IndiGo started four other international routes in the past week: Bengaluru-Riyadh, Delhi-Guangzhou, Kolkata-Siem Reap, and Vijayawada-Singapore. Obviously, all cover far less distance than the airline’s new link to Northwest England.
Like other Indian carriers, IndiGo cannot fly through Pakistan’s airspace. As such, it must re-route, which adds time, fuel consumption, and expense. Because of the longer duration, its nonstop flights are less competitive than the myriad of one-stop options via Gulf and European hubs. Its maximum block time is 10h 55m, which makes the route IndiGo’s new longest service.
The route joins Mumbai-Manchester (three/four weekly), which started on July 1. Mumbai-Heathrow followed on October 26 (daily). IndiGo now has up to 16 weekly services from India to the UK. Based on the first quarter of 2026 (January-March), Cirium Diio data shows it has 9% of the country pair’s flights, behind Air India, BA, and Virgin.
|
Days |
Delhi-Manchester; Local Times |
Manchester-Delhi; Local Times |
|---|---|---|
|
Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays |
04:05-09:30 (10h 55m) |
11:15-02:10+1 (9h 25m) |
AirAsia X Now Serves Istanbul
On November 14, AirAsia X took off from Kuala Lumpur to Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen, which is on the Asian side of the enormous city. With a block time of up to 11h 30m, it has become the long-haul low-cost carrier’s new longest route. It replaces Jeddah, with flights at up to 9h 55m.
AirAsia X runs four times weekly aboard the 377-seat A330-300. In the past year, the Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur market had 152,000 round-trip passengers (416 daily). Obviously, nearly everyone flew from Istanbul Airport, including on Turkish Airlines’ double-daily service.
Approximately 17,000 passengers flew to/from Sabiha Gökçen (47 daily). Most people connected to Qatar Airways flights in Doha. AirAsia X will grow this market while focusing on connections via the Malaysian capital, including with its sister carrier AirAsia. Sabiha Gökçen is used to having flights from Kuala Lumpur. Batik Air Malaysia served the market in 2024, while Malaysia Airlines was due to begin charter flights in late 2019, although it is unclear if the pandemic meant these were canceled.
Of course, AirAsia X had much longer flights in the past. It previously had nonstop flights to London Stansted, Gatwick, Paris CDG, and Christchurch, all of which had longer block times. And while this article examines nonstop flights, it had one-stop service to Honolulu via Osaka and to Auckland via Gold Coast/Sydney. The carrier still appears to have London hopes, with slots obtained at Gatwick for next summer. However, it is common for airlines to apply for slots and then not use them. Still, Gatwick has just added four airlines in a week.
It Is Not Quite The Same, But…
On November 15, Arajet arrived in Chicago O’Hare for the first time. It became the airline’s fourth airport on the US mainland, alongside Miami, Newark, and Sanford (which started recently). It operates from the ever-popular Punta Cana to O’Hare.
737 MAX 8 flights run three times weekly, with a block time of up to 5h 10m. The carrier’s previous longest US flight was between Santo Domingo and Newark (up to 4h 30m). Chicago services leave the Dominican Republic as early as 05:47. A few cities in the Caribbean and South America have two-way connectivity to/from O’Hare with a relatively short wait in Punta Cana.